Monthly Archives: September 2012

Why We Dance: The Story of THON

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With this weekend being the first of the three canning weekends for THON, the overall excitement for THON is growing around campus. In less than 142 days, we will dance for a cure, in hope that one day we will dance in celebration. This Thursday, WPSU, and many other affiliates of PBS in Pennsylvania will be showing the THON Documentary: Why We Dance. This week, I want to evaluate the civic artifact that is the documentary’s trailer.

I strongly encourage anyone reading this to go watch the trailer at http://wpsu.org/thondocumentary. Not only will it help you follow along with my blog, but it should make a profound impact on your view of THON and what we are doing here. That being said, you could also just watch the whole documentary on Thursday night at 8. Aside from being emotionally moving, the trailer is both rhetorically effective and civically engaging.

The main rhetorical strategy utilized by the trailer is the use of Pathos. Quite simply, if you don’t find the documentary emotionally moving, nothing will. The makers of the THON documentary appeal to our emotions in order to captivate us. Whether it is the parent’s stories, the children’s smiles, or the incredible positive attitudes of everyone involved, the THON documentary creates an effective appeal to our emotions in a call to introduce us to the amazing process of THON.

That brings us to the civic engagement part of the documentary. In our speeches, many of us defined civic engagement as being a part of a larger group than yourself, or something along those lines. This documentary shows the amazing works of the entirely student-run program not only to inform the public, but to engage the public. A cause with the magnitude of THON doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes more than a few people to happen. This documentary shows us how we are surrounded by an amazing opportunity to be a part of something that makes a real difference in many lives, and calls for every Penn State student to use our time here to make a lasting positive impact.

Passion Week 3: The Fab Five

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Entering 2012, the United States women’s gymnastics team had not celebrated a gold medal performance since the Atlanta games of 1996. A traditional power, the American girls failed to reach the pinnacle they were once accustomed to for three straight games, although controversy in Beijing still looms. The actual age of the Chinese participants in 2008 notwithstanding, high hopes and high expectations fell on the contingent from the United States for the London Games.

Enter stage left: The Fab Five. Perhaps the most celebrated team in US gymnastics history, the team of Ali Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Jordan Weiber, Kyla Ross, and McKayla Maroney had reached celebrity status before they even touched UK soil. The comparisons between these five not-yet-eighteen-year-olds and the champion “Magnificent Seven” of 1996 began only days after the team was selected at Olympic Trials. Perhaps the biggest burden came when Sports Illustrated ran this cover:

The Fab Five wasted no time living up to the hype. On the night of qualifying, the girls weren’t just good, they were more than good. In fact, in the case of Ali Raisman, she was too good. Raisman performed so well in qualifying, she hindered the perceived team star, Jordan Wieber, from qualifying for the All-Around title later that week. Only two girls could represent the United States in the coveted individual competition, and after just one night of competition, the world watched as Jordan broke down to tears just as her dream of individual Olympic gold did.

Two nights later, we watched Jordan Wieber mature into a young woman as she wiped away her tears to lead the United States girls to their coronation. Jordan gained many fans on the night of qualifying, fans who could only sympathize for a girl who had her dreams crushed. However, her gains that night dwindled in comparison to the fans she made by picking herself up and focusing on something larger than herself; her team, and her country. Jordan inspired many people that week, and only a part of them have dreams involving Olympic gymnastics.

Another star of the show that night was McKayla Maroney. Widely accepted as the best in the world at her discipline, the vault, McKayla lived up to her reputation. In the only chance she would have to contribute to the team, she was flawless. Well, to the naked eye she was. Judges found a way to deduct points from the seemingly perfect vault, but I’m still not quite sure how. Even the judges themselves were in awe of her performance:

Yes, those are the unhinged jaws of the professionals responsible for giving her a score.

I hinted not-so-secretly earlier that this night would end in celebration for the “Fab Five.” The United States brought home their first women’s team gold in sixteen years, and the five ladies of the hour became instant celebrities.

The Olympics are a time to celebrate the human potential, and the London Games did a fantastic job at that. For the competitions of women’s gymnastics, NBC Universal contributed to that excellence. In an Olympics where the network received constant criticism, NBC helped to make the Fab Five shine. In coverage that was introduced and concluded with “Home” by Phillip Phillips, NBC made every effort (and succeeded) to capture the emotion of the moment that defines so much of the Olympic Games. For the casual observer, the competition in East London seemed so meaningful, and was simple to connect to emotionally. It was no coincidence that the Games of the XXX Olympiad took the US by storm at the same time that the five US Gymnasts stood at the pinnacle of sport.

Photo Credit:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/

http://ryanseacrest.com/

Passion Week 2: The UK Arrives at their own Party

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The host country of the London 2012 Games came into the Olympics with high expectations. As host country, the United Kingdom had the opportunity to allow the most athletes to participate of any of the two-hundred-plus participating nations. Immediately after the opening ceremonies finished, both the United States and China established themselves at the top of the medal table. Three days into the games, the UK still lacked a gold medal. Enter stage left: national hero Bradley Wiggins.

If Bradley Wiggins wasn’t already immortalized by the British people before 2012, he certainly is now. A 32-year-old professional cyclist affectionately referred to as “Wiggo,” Wiggins is the face of British professional cycling.

On August 1st, led by a fearless Wiggins (pictured above), the UK finally broke through to join the select group of countries to earn a gold medal. Wiggins was the champion of the 44-kilometer Mens Time Trial, winning by a margin of 44 seconds over the defending world champion German Tony Martin (Fotheringham).

I make sure to give credit where credit is due, and in this case I have to admit that Wiggins did not win the first gold for the host country. Just a few hours earlier, the women’s rowing pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning broke through to strike gold for the Brits (Kemp). However, the Wiggins story goes further than standing on the highest step of a podium.

Wiggins entered the Olympics this year already a national hero. Just a month earlier he became the first man from the United Kingdom to ever wear cycling’s most coveted crown:  the maillot jaune of the Tour de France. A country proud of its cycling tradition, the Brits never broke through on the world’s biggest stage until Wiggins in 2012.

This breakthrough on top of his performance at the 2008 games. In Beijing, Wiggo took home two golds, to add on to his total of four medals from the 2000 and 2004 games (wikipedia.org). With his victory this year, Wiggins is now considered by many to be the greatest British Olympian of all time, in addition to the greatest cyclist in the country’s long history.

Overall, this August 1st was a day of celebration for the UK. A day to celebrate victory in the country’s greatest showcase, and a day to celebrate the fantastic career of a British sporting legend. It was days like these, were past met present, where the 2012 Olympics were defined, and inspired the generation of the future.

Photo Credit: http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/

“Bradley Wiggins.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Sep. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/Bradley_Wiggins/

Fotheringham, William. “Bradley Wiggins wins trial gold to become Britan’s most prolific Olympian.” The Guardian. 1 August 2012. Web. 19 Sep. 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/01/bradley-wiggins-gold-medal-olympian

Kemp, Stuart. “London 2012: Britan Wins First Gold in Front of Royal Audience.” The Hollywood Reporter. 1 August 2012. Web. 19 Sep. 2012. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/london-2012-britain-wins-first-357231

Atlas Dinner at Five Guys

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Last night, most of the THON group Atlas went to a fundraising dinner at Five Guys. A portion of all of the profits that the restaurant made that night went to Atlas, making it one of our first fundraisers. On the surface, it was a fun night. Recently, all of the members of the club were sorted into “houses,” and we went with those houses for an evening of dinner and meeting new people.

However, this night went much deeper than the experiences we shared while eating some good burgers and far too many fries. This event was the first of many civic engagement events through Atlas. Just yesterday, I spent three minutes of our morning together arguing that civic engagement is as simple as understanding you are a part of something larger than yourself, and working toward building that larger entity. This evening was the first of many civic engagement opportunities through Atlas. In two weeks is the first canning weekend for THON, and not long after that comes Homecoming.

See, clubs like Atlas are unique because they are founded for the sole purpose of bringing people together for a common cause. It’s not just Atlas; other THON groups such as Springfield, Apollo, A7, and many others all give a unique way to get involved. The social atmosphere that comes with clubs like these is almost simply a byproduct of the community produced by people working together for a common goal.

As for the civic engagement of our dinner last night? It was great to see a line out the door of all people from Atlas, working together, sacrificing their time and their LionCash to help a great cause hit the ground running here in 2012. Everyone there last night understood, whether consciously or not, that they were a part of something larger than themselves; and some point down the road their actions would pay dividends For The Kids.

The London 2012 Story Begins

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The Olympics are a time when the whole world comes together for a common goal: to compete and celebrate sport. The Olympic tradition is one that dates back to ancient Greece; and in the modern era, the games’ beginnings do not go forgotten. Every year, Greece is the first team to enter the Olympic arena on the night of the opening ceremonies. This August, for the third time in modern Olympic history, the United Kingdom was the last team to process in London.

Over the course of the next twelve weeks, I will be writing about the moments that defined the Games of the XXX Olympiad. I understand that there are simply too many incredible moments of the games to do all of them justice. I also realize that I am an American citizen, and my views will be clouded by the allegiance I pledged to my flag and my country every day in grade school. It’s not about winning and losing, it’s not about one country’s superiority; it’s about the fantastic displays of the human body combined with the human spirit we find at the Olympic Games.

There is no better, perhaps simply no other, way to begin this reflection than to do so with the opening ceremonies. In a word, they were spectacular. A ceremony lasting for hours into the chilly London night, the celebration featured British history, tradition, and transformation into modern times.

In case you missed it, here’s a skeletal description of the festivities. The opening ceremonies began with a reference to old England, with pastures of sod covering the Olympic Stadium floor. The grass was then peeled away as smoke stacks penetrated the sky, representing the industrial revolution. Later on, the British healthcare system was referenced as hundreds of doctors and nurses carted children around the stage on beds. Later, the modern generation had time to shine, as teens ran around, having a massive party on the world’s biggest stage. Finally, the athletes processed into the arena, country by country.

Thus far, I have left two moments from the night of July 27 out of my rundown. The first is the entrance of Her Majesty the Queen. In a fantastic display of British pride and comedy, the Queen was escorted to the Olympic Stadium by none other than James Bond. 007 and his newest girl entered via parachute to a roaring crowd; most likely roaring with laughter. Now we all no Queen Elizabeth II didn’t really skydive, but the theater of it all was fantastic.

Finally, the ceremonies closed with a bang thanks to none other than Sir Paul McCartney. He played one song. Hey Jude. It might have been the best version of Hey Jude ever sang. The Beatles legend showed that he still has it, and the world showed that they still love it. I recall singing, whistling, or humming Hey Jude for the next two weeks; it was just too special.

Ten thousand volunteers put on the greatest Olympic show I can remember, and probably somewhere near a billion watched it worldwide. The London 2012 motto was “Inspire a Generation,” and the opening ceremonies did just that. In the upcoming weeks we will push into the events that defined these games and inspired the world.

Fight the Power

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In the 1980s, the radio waves of Hip-Hop stations everywhere were dominated by a few prominent rap groups. One of these groups was Public Enemy; a collection of young rappers and a MC from New York. The beats and lyrics of Public Enemy ran in the minds of young African Americans all across America, and became the voice of a generation. Undoubtedly, Public Enemy’s most popular and influential song was Fight the Power (1989). A song carrying the undertones of Malcom X’s revolution by any means possible, Fight the Power is full of “revolutionary rhetoric” that calls to “fight the powers that be.” (Watrous 1990)

It is this call to revolution that inspired writer/director/producer Spike Lee to use Fight the Power as the soundtrack and backbone of his film Do the Right Thing (1989). In Do the Right Thing, main character Radio Raheem is characterized by his ever-present boombox radio, blasting Fight the Power like a broken record. In the film, Raheem’s stubborn playing of his boombox leads to his tragic death at the hands of the police. It can be argued that Lee is trying to depict a society trying to kill the revolution broadcasted by Fight the Power and embodied by Radio Raheem.

In Do the Right Thing, Lee displays a stereotypical ghetto in Brooklyn, New York, complete with racial tensions so prominent that they are, at one theatrical milestone, shouted at the audience in a string of extreme close-up, one-shot scenes. These not-so-secret tensions boil over, leading to an inauspicious conflict-to-end-all-conflicts. Lee uses this destructive riot, which includes the death of Radio Raheem, to display the consequences of the uncontrolled spite that racism can build.

It is difficult for the casual observer to find the actual rhetoric below the surface of revolution in Do the Right Thing. Rhetoric as we know it is best embodied in the character of Mayor. Mayor is a pillar of the community, despite the lack of respect he receives. His best quote is simple advice to a young black man: always do the right thing. Among the madness of the climactic riot of the movie, Mayor is a voice of reason; he calls for everyone to step back and think before they fight fire with fire. Nobody listens. The community’s ignorance results in death and destruction; exactly what the world sees when rhetoric fails and violence takes over.

Work Cited:

Watrous, Peter. “Recordings; Public Enemy Makes Waves – and Compelling Music.” The New York Times. April 22, 1990.